


The Life We Could Have

by Ndddd97



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Male My Unit | Byleth, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26284012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ndddd97/pseuds/Ndddd97
Summary: It has been four years since the Adrestian Transgression Wars and the restoration of the Monastery, the two former Blue Lions members lived out their lives as two professors at the Officer Academy, courtesy of the Archbishop himself. But those years were nothing more than painful for the two.Arguments, shoutings, distancing were frequent between the two as they avoided meeting each other. Was this year any different for them? Will they be separate for good?
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Felannie Mini Bang 2020





	The Life We Could Have

**Author's Note:**

> It was an honor to participate in a minibang while collaborating with the artist to bring this fic to life!
> 
> A collaboration with Stellar, I bring you a fic that I have been writing for the last couple months
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

\------Training Grounds, Garreg Mach Monastery, Great Tree Moon, Imperial Year 1190------

“Harder!!... Move faster!!!... That was sloppy!!!... Apply more force into it!!!... I said FASTER!!!” These were the words from the man, who has gone through countless battles, whose blade cut down many enemies, whose scars presented the cruelty of war before, and whose attitude brought fear to those faced him. He was known as the Meandering Sword, he went wherever his blade and his bloodlust told him. Felix Hugo Fraldarius was his name, the most fearless swordsman to be born in this world... Or at least that was the legend the students at Garreg Mach Monastery told themselves when they met face-to-face with Felix himself, aka the combat instructor of the academy.

“Too slow!” He scolded while blocking a strike earlier from a student as he pushed him back roughly and forcefully with his boot causing him to stumble backward and eventually fall hard on his bottom. Felix flicked his blade and resumed his defensive stance, holding his sword diagonally with the tip pointing downward, as the student panted heavily and felt a little bit ache on his chest due to the boot stomp.

“Get up and draw your sword!” Felix demanded as the students tried to get up but fall back down instead, dropping the training sword and panting more and more with each exhale louder and louder for Felix to hear, even from far away.

“Please, Professor... No more...” The student pleaded as he sat on the ground still panting, not from the kick but from the excruciating training Felix had put him through. His eyes narrowed and glared at the defeated student before shifting away from him and to other students as well. Mixed genders and races they were, exhausted they were too after the exact excruciating training they had with Felix. He then turned to his right, eyes still narrowed, to look at the group of students waiting to train with him, only for them to be coward and sheepish after watching him beat down some students.

“Cowards!” He bluntly scolded them as he stood up straight and sheathed his sword into its scabbard. He turned and walked towards the doors of the training grounds feeling dissatisfied as the students all watched him leaving the grounds. He stopped abruptly and turned his head sharply causing them to flinch and startle from his head movement as he narrowed his eyes at them.

“Continue your training. Next time, I want to see progress be made” After those words, he left the training grounds as the students there all let out a sigh of relief but felt shaken by his words, or rather his warning to them. It has only been two years in a half, two years before it took for the monastery to be fully recovered and later expanded upon, and Felix already built himself a reputation of being the harshest and sternest combat instructor in the monastery due to his way of training the students. 

Even after a year of being a combat instructor, he received an earful from Seteth, who also got an earful from nobles whose children complained and whined from his harsh attitude and roughhousing-styled training. If it weren’t for the Archbishop’s intervention, who was able to convince the nobles of his ways of teaching, Felix would wander around Fodlan following wherever his blade told him. One reason why the Archbishop saved his neck there was because of one particular position he has been holding onto.

“Good morning, Sir Fraldarius”

“Morning, Sir Fraldarius” 

The squires, knights, and monks greeted him as he walked around the monastery aimlessly with formality and honorific, which he grew sick of and tolerated being addressed as. In order to, somewhat, deter his bloodlust, the Archbishop granted him the title of Knight of Seiros, being second-in-command to the current Captain of the Knight of Seiros, Alois Rangeld in hope of putting Felix under control until his bloodlust subsided. It did subside his bloodlust but not his attitude nor his treatment towards his students. Walking through the courtyard, where the classrooms of once three houses stood, as he tried to navigate through large body of students walking and talking to get to his desired destination.

“How are you feeling, Professor Annette?” A student, female by the tone of the voice, greeted a professor as Felix immediately stopped in his track once he heard the all too familiar name.

“I’m doing fine. How’s your day?” And with the too-familiar cheerful voice, Felix instantly recognized the person the female student was talking to as he turned his head slightly eyeing at that one particular professor, holding a stack of books within her arms. That all too familiar white dress with an orange coat, those pale sapphire eyes, that orange hair with the ends curled up resting on her shoulders, and that always cheery face that he surely recognized as his former classmate, Annette Fantine Dominic. He quickly turned around and approached to have a talk with her while the student, brown hair tied into a neat bun with few strands left hanging, was talking to Annette. The student noticed him and startled by his presence while Annette was confused by her startled expression and turned to her direction, only to be dismayed when she saw Felix there before them.

“P-Professor Felix, I didn’t notice you there,” The frightened student said and bowed to him nervously as Felix raised his eyebrow at her briefly before realizing who she was. The student was Isabeau, the only student so far managed to withstand his rough training and spar with him on equal footing. Upon seeing her, he had just realized that she wasn’t there at the training grounds when he was training with other students and he was wondering why she would miss out on the training.

“You didn’t show up at the training grounds” He sternly said at the student, who was already shaking from his words, as Annette let out a heavy sigh and frowned at him already knowing what followed next.

“I-I apologize Professor! I-I was busy studying that I forgot the training already” As the student was done telling him the reason for her absence, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her feeling disappointed at her.

“You better be. Next week, you and I will be putting a mock spar so the students could see how a real fight unfolds. And don’t forget this time” He reminded her sternly as the student nodded sheepishly at his words.

“A-Ah yes, right away Sir” The student bowed to him and the other professor as she said her goodbye and excused herself to the training grounds. Annette then looked at him with a visible frown, not very pleased with what transpired before as Felix shifted his eyes downwards to the small woman next to him.

“You roughhoused them again, didn’t you?” She asked with visible anger in her tone a he turned his head away from her to the sky and let out an annoyed exhale through his nostrils and grunted.

“What about it then?” He asked her back pretending not to know the answer as Annette let out a heavy sigh knowing where the conversation will lead. In fact, she already knew where it will lead since she had this exact conversation with him before, about this exact same subject as well.

“We had this conversation before, and I don’t want to repeat myself. Please be gentle with the students or else you will be kicked off from the monastery” As she reminded him about their past conversation and his responsibility with teaching the students, he turned his head at her with visible annoyance clearly knowing the situation he got himself before.

“Why I should be worry? The Archbishop already saved me once, he will save me again” He stated the obvious and began walking away from her with his back now facing her as she narrowed her eyes glaring at him.

“Listen, Felix, don’t think that being a knight of Seiros or his former student would save you this time. He has warned you before, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kick you out” As she warned him about the possibility of him being kicked out of the monastery, he stopped suddenly and turned around to face her once more with his eyes now glaring at her, causing her to flinch a bit.

“Were you the one who convinced me to stay here in the first place? And then recommended me to be a combat instructor and a knight here?” He asked her, this time using his much harsher tone at her, as she was taken aback by his words and surprised to see him remember that time between him and her.

“Should you be the one that convinces him to let me stay here longer?” He asked her once more with his stern and sharp words as she could feel those words injuring her, making it harder for her to respond to him and in turn struggle to find words to talk to him.

“W-Well... I-I...” She choked on her words unable to find a word to argue him back as she realized to herself that she had lost the argument to him. Silence fell between the two, only the chatter from the students, the sound of footsteps filling the silence as Felix continued to stare at the defeated Annette who now looking away from him. Waiting for her to respond, Felix impatiently turned back and continued his walk to his destination.

“I’m taking a breather by the greenhouse” Felix left unceremoniously, letting the conversation between him and her end abruptly as Annette snapped out of her depression and frantically watched him go.

“H-Hey, I’m not done talking with you...” She tried to call him back but her voice was already out of his earshot as she watched him walking away from her, into the crowd of students and monks. Annette pouted her cheeks and huffed at him as she too left to her room feeling sour from talking with him.

\------Dorm Area------

“Good morning, Miss Annette”

“Good day to you, Professor Annette” 

“Good morning, Professor”

Knights, monks, and students alike respected her with formality as she nodded at them back and greeted them in return during the walk to her room. Ever since the reopening of the academy and change in its education system, the monastery received more students than before, and so the dorm was expanded to accommodate more students and more educators as well. As she was making her way to the educators’ dorm, just behind the students’ dorm, she spotted the all too familiar man from the distance, her once professor and friends, Byleth Eisner or Archbishop Byleth as he is known now.

Wearing his Enlightened One robe, he was talking with the another man, an elderly man judging by his grey short hair and facial hair wearing an extravagant Alliance-styled robe with cerulean accented throughout and other colors such as white and gold complimented the blue color and gold ornaments decorating the robe, who was walking with a cane by his right. Next to them was a dark-skinned woman, with white short hair with her bang covering the right side of her face leaving a big portion of her forehead exposed and wearing an elaborate dark-grey armor, as she stood next to the two. Annette happily grinned at his presence as she approached him with her usually cheerful face while still holding onto the book she was carrying.

“Good morning, Archbishop Eisner” She bowed to him as Byleth let out a smile not minding her cut in the conversation between him and the old man, as did the elderly man and the female knight next to him.

“Good morning to you too, Professor Annette” He greeted her and bowed to her in response as the two would also bow to her as well. Knowing that there will be much to discuss with the elderly man but since he’s going to have a meeting in just a few minutes, he turned to the female knight and requested her help.

“Syren, would you please show Margrave Edmund around the monastery?”

“Of course, Your Archbishop” The dark-skinned woman replied as she then led the elderly man and helped him walk around the monastery. Annette looked closely at the elderly man until it hit her with a realization.

“That was Marianne’s father-I mean adoptive father?” She asked as Byleth just nodded.

“He is here to see how things at the academy go and visit us. How was the teaching today? Without any accident?” He asked this time as Annette happily nodded at him. Annette voluntarily became the professor here who taught students the Art of Magic, and quickly became their favorite professor due to her cheerful and friendly nature, and her accident-prone habit as well. But nonetheless, the students adored her and always came to ask her for help, unlike Felix though.

“It went without a hitch as usual, and the students like me as always. Unlike someone, I know” Her face contorted into a frown expression with a hint of anger as the Archbishop’s once calm expression turned into a worried expression knowing full well who she was talking about. Knowing that he still had some time left to talk to her before attending an important meeting, he decided to have a small talk with her to see how Felix was doing with his position as a combat instructor.

“How about a walk to the dorm while we talk?” He offered as Annette dropped her frown and nodded at him with her neutral face. The two began their walk to the dorm area preserved only for the staffs of the monastery, particularly those who worked at the academy and the church, just right behind the dorm area for students.

“He is at it again, isn’t he?” He asked with mild disappointment to hear Felix roughhousing his students again just to toughen them for the path ahead at him, as Annette nodded with worry.

“I don’t know why he has to be physically rough with them. Fodlan is at peace and there shouldn’t be any conflicts that follow, right Professor?” Byleth shook his head disagreeing with her notion of Fodlan ‘being at peace right now’. It was true that peace was achieved, but over the course of time, he would saw bandits, remnants of Those Who Slither In the Dark, of the Empire, and others conspired with them would rise up and cause havoc in the land again. 

“As long as there is peace, there will be violence and conflict will inevitably happen” He stated to her as her face began to sadden at what he said and turn to look at the road ahead of them. They continued to walk, greeting the students and the staff before Annette spoke up again.

“It is a troublesome cycle, isn’t it Professor?” Byleth nodded at the sad notion of what her words mean. It was a vicious cycle indeed as he thought to himself remembering the war happened four and half years ago. To fight for peace was to fight for your life to attain it but even when peace was achieved, there would be still discord within peace and conflict inevitably happened again. It was his role, as Archbishop, to stop such conflict from happening again for the safety of Fodlan, his family, close friends and the future generation as well. Now he had realized how much the talk had changed from the topic of Felix roughhousing his students to talk about peace and violence, just to show how fast they can change the subject on a whim like that. It almost made him remember all the discussion they had in the academy years, from serious topics into more silly and out-of-place topics. Once they arrived in the vicinity of the staff dorm, Byleth noticed a particularly placed crate near the first room on the lower floor of the dorm as he stared at it for a long period of time before he remembered the moment when he first met Annette, causing him to smile.

“You know, Annette. This reminds me of that day” He spoke up as Annette’s sad expression now became a confused and puzzled one when she turned to look at him with her raised an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean, Professor-“ Annette asked while following his gaze to what he was looking at until she saw him looking at a random crate by the door. It took her second to realize what he meant as she instantly blushed from remembering that day.

“O-Oh right, that day indeed...”

* * *

_\------_ _Dorm Area, Imperial Year 1180_ _\------_

_“Who put this stupid crate here?!!” She screamed out loud and held onto her sprained ankle after being tripped over by a randomly placed crate on the stone ground while she was her way to her room._

_“Ouch ouch...” She groaned in pain after touching her sprained ankle as she tried to stand up with both legs on the ground, only to feel the pain in her ankle again. She flinched and decided to sit on the steps of the stairways rubbing her sprained ankle as she frowned at herself and cursed internally for being clumsy. Unbeknown to her, a particular person came out of their room investigating the ruckus and found the orange-haired girl sitting on the stairways._

_“Do you need any help, Annette?” She got spooked by the voice as she turned around to see the Golden Deer professor, named Byleth Eisner crouching down next to her with his deadpan face._

_“A-Ah Professor?! Y-You scared me?!" Said Annette as her frightened expression changed into relief upon seeing the new professor, but she still sounded frightened from being scared by him the first time._

_"I apologize for not mentioning my presence to you, but are you okay? He apologized before asking Annette if she was doing fine._

_"I-I’m fine. P-Perfectly fine” She lied blatantly as she stood up to show that she was fine until the pain in her ankle acting up again forced her to sit down again. Upon seeing her groan in pain, the professor helped her to sit down and inspect where the pain came from. Knowing that she felt the pain on her left leg, he pressed his finger lightly along her leg until she yelped when he pressed onto her ankle._

_“Look like you sprained your ankle there. Let me help then” He took her left boot out held out his hand over her sprained ankle as the green aura started glowing around the palm of his hand and soon the aura gathered itself around Annette’s sprained ankle. Annette could feel the healing aura coursing through her ankle and the soothing and relaxing the healing magic brought along as she could feel her ankle getting much better now. Afterward, he took out a roll of bandage and wrapped around her ankle neatly, and eventually secured it before putting on her boot. Annette moved her ankle a bit, she could feel the stinging sensation but less painful that she could walk again without limping._

_"Thank you for curing my ankle, Professor. I can walk on my own-" The Professor suddenly picked her up and carried her in full bridal style as Annette immediately yelped and startled by his action with the panic look on her face and redness began to form on her cheeks._

_“P-Professor!?!!? W-What are you doing?!!” She screamed in embarrassment with her hands staying close to her chest as she could feel her heart beating faster and faster. Despite her obvious redness and embarrassment, the new Professor was completely unaware of what he was doing and what Annette was suffering._

_“I carry you to your room” He responded briefly as he began to carry her room with Annette embarrassingly covering her face with her hands, hiding her very red blush that was now as red as the tomato._

_“P-Professor, please?!!? I-I can walk to my room on my own?!!” She begged him looking through the slits between her fingers as she continued to cover her face hiding her tomato face and her reddest blush from anyone who happened to see her and the professor. Luckily for her, it was the dead of the night, only the knights were present to patrol the monastery for signs of trouble or students breaking the curfew. But even then, a knight could spot them during their patrol and who knew what would they do with that kind of information. Gossiping and spreading rumors of her and this new professor?!!_

_“I want to make sure that your ankle heals completely before you can walk. Or else, the pain will act up again” He explained continued to carry her to the room until they reached the door to her room. He lifted her up slightly higher on his arm so that he could open the door to her room, all the while Annette frantically looked around to see if anyone was while still covering her face in embarrassment. Soon they entered her room with the professor closing the door behind them as Annette let out a sigh of relief knowing that she was out of the danger of being spotted by the knights or other people snooping around the dorm area. He then carried her to her bed and dropped her gently onto the edge of the bed as he later took out her boots gently, especially with her left leg._

_“T-Thank you, professor. Y-Y don’t have to carry me to my room, I can walk on my own” Annette stated while still feeling embarrassed as she laid herself down onto the bed, being careful with her leg._

_“Like I said, the pain will act up again if you walk. So it was more convenient for me to carry you here than let you walk. By the way, what were you doing this late at night?” He asked, suspicious of her activity at night as she gulped down the lump in her throat, pretending not to know anything despite the obvious anxious and guilty look present on her face. Truth be told, Annette had been up to her old habit of studying late in the library past curfew again, and this time was no different. He furrowed his brow staring at her waiting for her to respond as Annette diverted her eyes away from him feeling nervous about telling him her late-night studying. Should she tell him that since he didn’t know about her late study habit or should she keep it away from him?_

_“Go get some rest, you will need it” He overlooked her late activity for now as he paid more attention to her health, especially her left ankle. He draped the blanket over to her shoulders and then proceeded to leave her room._

_“W-Wait, Professor!? What’s your name?!” She rose up from the bed calling him out as the professor stopped and turned to look at her, just as he was about to open the door._

_“Name’s Byleth. Byleth Eisner. You can call me Professor for short” He introduced himself in a monotone voice with an unchanging neutral face._

_“Name’s Annette. A-And thank you for taking care of my ankle and carrying me to my room” She thanked him, being embarrassed at the last part as the new professor just nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Despite feeling embarrassed by the new professor, she laid back onto her bed with the blanket draping over as she tried to ease herself into sleep. Eventually, she would drift off to sleep while also thinking about the new professor and forgetting what happened earlier..._

* * *

“I’m still embarrassed just by remembering. But honestly, though, it helps lighten up the mood a bit” She thanked him while still being embarrassed from just remembering the moment between her and Byleth as he let out the warm smile at her. 

“Glad to be of help then” After the conversation, the two eventually reached the staff housing area. The staff housing area was separated into two different dorms, the left one was used to house teachers and staff while the right one, also known as a barrack, preserved for the knights, squires, and many members of the church. They took the left turn towards the dorm for teachers and staffs as they stopped at the very first door with stairways next to it and the aforementioned crate placed near the

“I must go now. It was nice talking with you again, Annette” 

“It was, Professor. See you again” The two bowed at each other and went on their separate ways with Archbishop Eisner attending his meeting and Annette going to her room. Annette’s room was just like her room back in the academy years, neat and tidy well except when she recently took up a teaching position. Books filling her bookshelf with fews lying around on the cabinets and the floor, scrolls containing magic diagram haphazardly shoved into the small bin with few lying next to it, the bed was undone with the blanket tossed aside. To top it off, her desk was a mess with papers, open books, and other stuff lying around and the chair was laying down on the floor. Annette stood astonished at her own messy room and felt ashamed for being too disorganized that her room could put Manuela’s room to shame if she was here to bear witness to it.

“Time to clean up I suppose” She placed the books onto her drawer near the bed as she went to work on tidying her room. Along the way, she began to hum a familiar tone as she picked up books and stuffs lying around and then organized them accordingly. And soon enough, she burst into singing and dancing while cleaning her room. A very familiar song that she once sang before in fact.

“Oh, how I just love to clean. Clean the library room! Just take a flash of light and then it all goes boom! A flash and then a big boom!...” Singing and dancing to her content as she tidied up her room and organized them as they should be so she could ready her next lesson and grade her students’ exam. As for the other professor…

\------Training Grounds------

“Hiyah! Hah! Yargh!” The sound reverberated throughout the training grounds as one lone female student spent time practicing her swordsmanship against the training dummy. This student, named Isabeau, was practicing to prepare for the mock sparring match between her and the combat instructor Professor Felix, or Mr. Fraldarius since he was more comfortable being addressed like that than being called a professor. After a couple of swings, she stopped and wiped the sweat off her forehead as she took the leathery canteen hanging by her waist and drank its content. Audible gulping sounds can be heard as she drank the canteen in one go, nearly emptied it as she wiped the water droplets remaining on her lips, and placed the canteen by her waist again and continued her training. 

Unbeknownst to her, a person watching her as he stood by the white marble column supporting the cover that he was standing underneath. He leaned against the white column, arms crossing and the right leg crossing over the left as he watched and analyzed the student's movement and skills. This person was none other than Felix the combat instructor himself. Even though he said he would go to the greenhouse to take some rest, he planned to make a quick detour to the training grounds and check on things but instead to see his own student, Isabeau, was there training her swordplay. Seeing that she took his words seriously, he decided to stay and watch her practice

Watching her practice those swings and strikes at the dummy with such energy and concentration brought back the memory of the time he too practiced alone in the training grounds, but this memory of his involved a heated argument between him and Annette over his “training method”.

* * *

_\------_ _Training Grounds, Imperial Year 1189_ _\------_

_“What did you do with those kids?!!” Annette asked, sounding exasperated with a face full of displeasure as she was frowning at Felix, who was busy training his swordsmanship so that his blade wouldn’t get too rusty._

_“I train them” He answered briefly taking an offensive stance as he delivered a thrust at the abdomen of the training dummy, while Annette was extremely displeased with his answer, shown by her face got angrier and angrier._

_“Training them?!? More roughhousing them!! Did I tell you to go easy on the students, Felix?!!” She scolded him for his harsh training method and for his forgetting what she said about treating the students as he just rolled his eyes at her and continued training his swordsmanship, ignoring her calling him and asking him unnecessary question. Seeing him ignoring her and training without the care of the world obviously made her very VERY angry. Her face became red with anger, her brow furrowed deep into the bridge of her nose, her mouth formed a scowl showing her teeth_

_“Felix, are you listening to me?!?! Felix!!!” Annette shouted at him, repeatedly each with increasing loudness as everyone from outside of the training grounds could hear her angry shoutings. Felix rolled his eyes at her and continued training ignoring her as Annette continued to shout at him. Even with all the shouting, he didn’t respond to her, completely ignoring her as Annette grew more furious with her teeth gritting. If he doesn't listen to her, then she will force him to listen._

_She waved around her hand drawing a circle in the air as the magic sigil slowly materialized following the line her hand made. Once the magic sigil fully materialized, she cupped her hands before sending them toward and cast a spell. A sudden incoming breeze entered Felix’s ears as he turned around and spotted a slash of wind coming at him. It startled him as he quickly dodged out of the way letting the slash of wind slice the dummy in half. With both pieces of the dummy fell to the ground, Felix turned to glare at Annette with his piercing hazelnut eyes and yelled at her for interrupting his training._

_“WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR-”_

_“Answer me, Felix!!!" Annette yelled out at him, intervening his angry speech to her as Felix flinched and became silent before her never before seen anger. He only saw her being slightly angry over small things like his rude attitude or whenever her singing was brought up, but never a full-blown genuine one. One that was undeniably born from emotion and feelings deep within her heart._

_"Why did you train them that rough?!! They are just students, not some soldiers ready for battle!?!?” Annette repeated her question again as Felix just stood staring at her, standing with her fists clenched tightly, her scorn expression with red cheeks and her heavy breathing of anger._

_“I trained them like a combat instructor would” He answered calmly, unfazed by her raging anger as Annette looked at him with astonishment that despite her anger at him, he still managed to let out an answer. She would have calmed down from her anger if his answer could have been much more acceptable._

_“Not with your method!!” She lashed out at him again as Felix once more flinched at her scornful response to his answer._

_“Just relax, okay?! You don’t have to be angry at me” Said the blue-haired swordsman as he tried to calm down the angry redhead professor from becoming an actual redhead, especially with her cheeks slowly turning red by minutes._

_“I have a right to be angry at you, Felix!!!” Annette lashed out once more as she began breathing in and out in regular rhythm. Soon the red on her face slowly drained away and her expression softened and returned back to her usual cheerful and happy self. Felix let out a quiet sigh but soon flinched when he saw Annette showing her mild angry face at him._

_“Just promise me one thing” She offered sternly in much more serious than what her face conveyed as Felix stood before her awkward and nodded to her offer. Soon after, she held her pinky finger before him as Felix blinked his eyes and looked at the finger then at Annette and then back at the finger, wondering what kind of promise he had to make to her._

_“That you don’t treat your student like a dummy,” She said as Felix rolled his eyes at her and held his pinky finger next to hers. Felix felt childish for agreeing to make a promise with her through a more childish way he had seen during his younger days as a child._

_"Fine! I don't treat them like a dummy-" As soon as he pledged his promise and wrapped his pinky around hers, Annette reared her angry face up close to him startling him as he was about to make a promise to her._

_“Like you mean it!” She strongly said, doubting Felix’s capability to hold up his promise at his ends as Felix was forced to oblige her with an angry huff before fully wrapping his pinky around hers._

_"You promise, Felix. Don't you dare break this promise of ours" She reminded him once more as she wrapped her pinky tightly around his to show that there was consequence to him breaking his promise. But from his perspective, her warning was more of jest to him as he had heard her making such a warning before back in the academy days. Nonetheless, he agreed to her warning with a simple nod as she smiled, still bearing some anger within, that Felix took her warning seriously for one._

_"I will see you again later, Felix. And remember not to break our promise" She released her pinky from his and turned around, making her way out of the training grounds. Along the way, she tripped and almost fell to the ground but soon managed to get herself back up and stood straight again due to her quick reflex._

_“J-Just pretends you didn’t see it happen,” Said Annette blushing as she tried to casually walk off and pretended that one clumsy fall didn’t happen. Except for the swordsman, who stood awkwardly watching her exiting the training grounds with the memory of her almost fell down onto the ground engraved deep into his mind._

_“What’s a problematic woman!” Felix remarked and shrugged it off as he went to get a new training dummy since the first one was sliced up by Annette so that he could train in peace and without any interruption._

* * *

In retrospect, he already had broken the promise between them for this morning training regimen as he himself felt guilty about breaking the promise between them. Though it was still fun for him that she could convey such anger and reaction for how small she was.

“Oh Felix, What are you doing here?” A voice called out to him interrupting his train of thought as Felix turned to the person calling him to find that it was the Queen of Fodlan herself, Marianne von Edmund or Lady Marianne for short.

“Just watching the student train. What are you doing here then, Her Majesty?” He asked, wondering why a figure like herself would be wandering to a place like this. And furthermore, how did she manage to be so quiet that he didn’t notice her entering the training grounds?

“Checking around in case someone needs some help" She answered though Felix may have a feeling that she probably lied about going in here to help. If anything, she should have gone to the cathedral to pray to the Goddess, to the infirmary to help the people there, or maybe the audience chamber where she could converse with the monks, knights, and people there. Felix may not look the part but he knew better than everyone else in the monastery about her routine. Spending years studying her routine, he knew precisely where she would go, the route she took, and the reason she would go to these places. For her to be here must require a perfect reason, instead of just being here to help people in need as she said.

"You didn't come here to check on people, did you?" Felix asked, doubting her reason for being here, as Marianne made an “Oh” face once she heard the combat instructor’s questioning. But instead of arguing back or rebutting, Marianne just… let out a giggle causing the swordsman to be confused.

"You and your sharp senses, Felix. Byleth was right about your sharp intuition and keen senses" The cerulean woman complimented him as he just huffed at and shrugged off the compliment. But from within, he did appreciate her compliment since no one has praised or complimented him before, except for the few times during the academy year.

"You are right, Felix. I didn't come here to check on people, but rather… I was drawn to this place" She admitted and confessed to Felix her real intention to be here as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, puzzling by the words she used to describe her reason to be here.

"Drawn to this place?" The swordsman asked as the cerulean woman nodded and looked at the student training with the dummy. Felix followed her gaze and looked back at her with an obvious confusion presented on his face. Was she drawn by Isabeau’s training? How exactly and why? But more importantly, how she was drawn to his place in the first place?

"While I was taking a stroll around the monastery, greeting the students and the staff here, this place, in particular, drew my attention. I wondered why this place got my attention and so I entered in to see why" She explained to him, wondering why she herself was also drawn to this place in particular as Felix waited to hear the answer from her and hoped that it cleared up his confusion. 

"As I entered, I finally understood why. That dummy right there… reminds me of our dance” She continued on and ended with an answer Felix waiting for as he felt surprised by the words she said.

_“Our dance?”_ He thought in confusion as he swiftly turned to look at the dummy again and tried to think why she was reminded of a dance?! It took him some time but eventually, he too understood why the dummy reminded her of the dance as a memory of that particular dance came into his mind.

* * *

_\------_ _Ethereal Moon, Imperial Year 1180_ _\------_

_“Look like this area is clear,” Said the knight as he finished checking the area around him with the lantern on his hand, illuminating the dark areas and corners, along with the other knight checking as well._

_“Let’s check the training grounds in case someone is doing some late training again” The other knight suggested as the two made their way to the training grounds with the lantern illumination the dark surrounding around them on their nightly patrol. The night fell once more on another day at the Garreg Mach Monastery as the students and staff all went to bed after the busy day they had. As night came, the monastery became silent letting the ambient of the night take over. Despite the serenity, students would often go out of their room during the dead of night, avoiding the patrolling knights and doing their own things without caring for their safety. The church seemingly overlooked the small problem as a slipup on patrol knights’ part, but with the Death Knight’s presence and coming threat of an unknown evil force, the church had to increase their security to ensure the safety of their students and the people of the monastery. As the two made it to the entrance to the training grounds, they opened the doors and took a look inside to see the usual scenery of an empty training grounds with a lone training dummy in the middle. One of the knights entered in and waved his lantern around, brightening up dark places for better surveillance._

_“All clear here. Look like no one comes here” Stated the knight after briefly checking around the area, he turned to see his buddy cowardly stood by the door, shaking and gripping tightly onto the door._

_“But still I have a feeling that someone or something is following us” Despite wearing a helmet, the other knight could sense how afraid and scared he was from his tone and how alerted he was before. In fact, he had been acting up like this ever since the month of Ethereal Moon came. He claimed that during his night duty, he could sense and hear someone or something following him whenever he patrolled around the monastery, lurking in the shadows and dark corners. Many knights were quick to laugh at and ridicule him for his wild imagination, but he still insisted on believing his story of a figure stalking in the night._

_“Just relax Robert, you’re just sensing things while we are patrolling. I can assure you that no one follows us during our patrol” As he tried to calm him down and reassure him, the knight, Robert, looked more frightened than before even though his expression didn't really show through his helmet._

_“But I can sense them, Henry. I can sense them following us from behind. Hiding in a dark corner and shadow” The frightened knight still insisted in believing this dark figure roaming the monastery despite the reassurance the other knight, named Henry, gave him. Seeing that there was no way to calm him, Henry let out a sigh and offered him another round of patrolling so at least Robert here could rest easy._

_“Let's do another round of patrolling if it calms you down, Robert" Robert, the other knight, nodded shiveringly at his suggestion as the two exited and began another round of patrol starting from the training grounds. As the two knights left the premises, an individual came out from the corner and opened the door as quietly as they could before entering the training grounds. Under the light of the moon, the figure revealed to be none other than the blue-haired swordsman, Felix Hugo Fraldarius as he approached the dummy with a sour and scowl look._

_"Let's get this over with!" Muttered the swordsman as he grabbed the arms of the dummy and began dancing in preparation for his White Heron Cup competition._

_To think a professor like Byleth could choose him, one that preferred to train his sword and his senses, to compete in something that is as mundane and outlandish as dancing. Sure Felix had taken up dancing when he was young, but not anymore since he was more interested in swordplay than just some lame footwork. He was joking at first about being a representative for the competition but his professor had to take it literally and chose him instead. Imagine his reaction to hearing the news of him being chosen as the representative for the dance competition! Even if he tried to argue his way out of the problem, Byleth didn’t waver and took no for an answer, insisting that Felix should compete. Thus leading Felix to embarrassingly practice the dance in front of every student, including his former Blue Lions classmates, and lose his focus and concentration in the process._

_To remedy this, Felix sneaked into the training grounds at midnight and practiced his dance alone with the training dummy in peace with no eyes staring at him. Well, it did work as he could concentrate more on the dancing than having someone to stare and laugh at him. The problem though was his dancing came out more stiff and rigid than he expected to be. Thus every dance training he had left him felt dissatisfied and frustrated. With only a few days left till the competition, Felix had to make his dance more fluid and flexible as he could, or else he will become a laughing stock to the entire academy. And so far, he had no luck in doing so._

_“I hate this!” Angrily muttered the swordsman as he tossed the dummy onto the ground, causing slight ruckus upon hitting the ground. He crouched down onto the ground letting out a long sigh and gripping his head out of frustration as he cursed himself for how much a failure he was. He can master the blade for all he can, but he couldn’t even muster one simple waltz dance that he watched his old man and his mother danced at a random ceremony when he was young!? After spending time cursing himself, he eventually stood up with a defeated and disappointed face at his current attempt as he let out another long sigh._

_“I should have called it quit when I-” Feeling a nearby presence, Felix quickly pulled out his sword and turned to the stranger in the field with his sword pointing at them._

_“If you value your life then come and show yourself. Or else I have to use extreme force to get you out myself” Felix warned the individual as an audible gasp, not too faint or too loud, was let out from this individual causing the swordsman to raise his eyebrow at a somewhat female sounding gasp. Eventually, from the dark corner a student in their female academy uniform slowly came out as Felix readied himself and stood his ground for what to come. To his relief though, the student turned out to be none other than the outcast herself, Marianne von Edmund with her very noticeable cerulean hair that somehow shone brighter in the dark._

_“I-I mean you no harm, Felix” She assured him and stopped a few feet away from him, feeling intimidated and shaking especially since Felix raised his sword at her. He looked between her and the sword as he began to sheath his sword back to its scabbard so that the girl could approach him._

_“Apology then” He apologized and stood crossing his arms as Marianne let out a sigh of relief and approached him more easily without the sword pointing at her. Although there were only two of them alone in the training grounds, the two spoke as low as they could so as to not alert others around them._

_“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Asked the swordsman stoically at the cerulean girl as she felt startled by the sudden question and shied away from him as soon as she got close to him._

_“W-Well… I-I…” The young girl shied away from him and struggled to find words to tell him what she was doing in the middle of the night. But because of how nervous and reserved she was, the swordsman will have to wait long for her to form a complete sentence. Felix, however, didn't have the time to be patient with her or wait for her answer as he huffed at her and turned to face the downed dummy on the ground._

_“Whatever the reason, you are in the way of my training. Now go away!" Felix attempted to shoo her away as he picked up the dummy and tried to practice his dance for one last time. Marianne, however, wasn’t fazed by his attempt to drive her away, in fact, his sharp words snapped her out of her nervousness as she frantically tried to say something to get his attention._

_"W-Wait Felix! I-I can help you!" She spoke stutteringly to him but managed to get his attention as the swordsman immediately turned his head to face her just as he was crouching down to pick up the dummy off the ground._

_“Help me?” Raising his eyebrow at her, the cerulean girl quickly retreated back to her nervous self as she shied away from looking at him and played with her index fingers._

_“I wanted to help you... practice the dance” She spoke up turning to look at him with her two hands now clasping together as Felix felt a bit surprised by her sudden confident words. Though inside, he was frustrated and angry when he found out that she has spied on him practicing the dance at the training grounds, hiding in that dark corner of hers._

_“Admittedly, I stumbled upon you practicing your dance here at the training grounds one night after praying at the cathedral” The cerulean girl continued on, telling her how she knew about his dancing and confessing to him what she was doing in the middle of the night. He knew that she was religious in a way, following the teachings of the Goddess to heart and praying at the cathedral, but never knew she would be that religious, going as far to sneak out and pray. But it was not the time for him to think about what she was doing in the middle of the night, it was the time for him to know why she decided to stay and watch him dance instead of returning back to her room._

_“Seeing how frustrated you were after many attempts made me want to help you. But I couldn’t muster the courage to come and help you… until now” The swordsman became mildly interested and perked up after hearing her reason to stay and watch him dance and her motivation to help him. Normally, he would turn down such an offer when it came to training since he didn’t need anyone to help with his training. But when it came to dancing though, he may help with that one after many failed attempts so far. And so with a nod, Felix agreed to her request to help him as he turned to pick the dummy up and set it as it was originally. The girl perked up seeing him accepting her help with a faint smile spread across her face but before he truly let the cerulean girl help him..._

_“I will let you help… on one condition” He spoke up sternly, turning his head at her as the Golden Deer girl flinched from his stare and his words._

_“Promise me that you never tell anyone about my secret practice routine” He offered, looking deeply into her brown eyes as the girl became slightly uneasy and intimidated by his stare that she backed away a little. But eventually, she nodded nervously at his offer, agreeing to his term and keeping silent of his nightly practice routine. Felix continued to stare at the nervous cerulean girl until he suddenly came closer to her as the girl slightly backed away from with sudden fear and anxiety. While she was backing away from him, he grabbed her left hand by her wrist, causing the girl to startle as he pulled her in close and wrapped his arm around her waist, further making her feel uncomfortable._

_“Show me how to dance then” He spoke stoically, asking for instruction as Marianne felt extremely uncomfortable and lost in thought with how close her face and Felix’s was and the way he held her hand and waist. The close touch to her skin got the girl to blush and feel bewildered by his sudden action. Even if this was his way of asking her to get into position, he could just have asked her and she would follow through instead of approaching her and grabbing like a criminal. But nonetheless, the cerulean girl shook her head, snapping her out of her confusion and regaining her bearing as she mustered up what was left of her courage and confidence inside her. She lifted her right arm and laid onto his shoulder as she wiggled her left hand downwards into the palm of Felix’s hand and wrapped her hand around his._

_“Follow my lead,” Said the girl quietly as she began leading the dance, performing the waltz dance with Felix carefully followed and watching her steps. At first, the dancing felt sluggish and stiff just as Felix felt many times before and it certainly didn’t bode well to him as Felix was slowly losing his patience._

_“Be patient, you will find the feeling soon” Encouraged the cerulean girl after seeing how dissatisfied Felix was as he reluctantly followed and continued with the dance, despite slowly losing his patience. Through many turns and sways, the rigid and sluggish movement now became more fluid and smoother as they are now in sync with the rhythm and movement of the dance. They moved accordingly to the unseen rhythm and music as they danced around the training grounds alone at night with the moonlight shining at them as if they were the center attention of a dance floor. As they continued to dance, each’s negative emotion has now been repressed and their positive emotion came out during the dance with the two now looked deep into each other’s eyes. His auburn eyes met her chocolate eyes as they remained their eye contact and enjoyed the dance together, undisturbed and alone at the training-_

_“This is our last stop for tonight. I hope it will clear up your fear, Robert” A voice from the patrol knight snapped the two out of their dance as they were now alerted by the voice and the footsteps of the patrol knights coming closer to the training grounds. Acting fast, Felix quickly dragged to the one of the columns as the cerulean girl gasped and struggled to follow him. Quickly hid behind one of the columns, the swordsman pulled the girl in hugging her tightly and covered her mouth with his hand just as the knights entered in the training grounds._

_“See Robert? Nothing happened throughout our second patrol. And the training grounds was the same as when we entered”_

_“T-That’s impossible! I swear I heard something when we entered here…” As the two knights were having a conversation, Felix and Marianne were perfectly still and silent behind the column the knights happened to stand next to. Felix slightly peeked out of the shadow to watch the two knights while Marianne remained to be silent and hugged by his arms as the two waited for them to leave the place._

_“Let’s take you back to your quarter. You look tired, Robert”_

_“Maybe I do need a break from this” Felix silently watched the two knights leaving the training grounds as he quietly turned to the other side and saw the two opening the doors and leaving the establishment. Felix stared at the doors, waiting for something to happen as Marianne would also stare at the door for something to happen as well. Minutes later, nothing happened as the two now sighed in relief with Felix let go of Marianne and walk out in the open._

_“It seems we must go now before any more knights come here,” Said the swordsman looking around the training grounds as he turned to the cerulean girl to see her stood awkwardly still and flustered with the blush on her face. The swordsman looked at her with confusion with his eyebrow raised at her as the nervous girl noticed him staring at her and shook her head to snap out of her flustered state._

_“L-let's go before they come back,” The girl said stutteringly walking towards the doors as Felix felt a bit perplexed by her expression, but he ignored it and exited the establishment along with her. Slightly opening the door, Felix peeked his head out and looked around to see if there was somebody outside. With no one in sight, Felix walked out of the training grounds and held the door open for Marianne to exit._

_“The coast is clear,” Said the swordsman as the cerulean girl exited the place while looking alerted and cautiously around her. Felix then silently closed the door as the two began their way back to the dorm. Through some sneaking and carefully watching, the two made it back to their dorm without alerting the patrol knights along their way back. Walking up the stairs to the second floor of the dorm, where their room is, the two walked along the hall until they stopped at the cerulean girl’s door to her room._

_“Thank you for escorting me back. Although I can make my way back on my own without your help” The girl thanked him with a slightly nervous tone as he just turned away from her and huffed at her._

_“I could have made my way here as well without you by my side,” He said grumpily before walking down the hallway to his door as Marianne shyly waved at him with red blush on her before going back into her room to have a good night sleep. Meanwhile, Felix watched the cerulean girl entered her room with him following suits to have a good nice sleep as well._

* * *

“Fun time it was,” The cerulean woman said and giggled happily of the fond memory she had with Felix all the while he just rolled his eyes at her. What could be fine with them dancing all alone in the training grounds and almost being caught by two knights? To be fair, that practice was enough to motivate him to continue and help him to refine the dancing to be more flexible and lively. In the end, he did win the competition, against his fellow Blue Lion classmate Annette and the Black Eagle songress Dorothea with such a joke of the judges. At least he got to brag to his professor that he won, though un-amusingly, as he watched him formed a goofy smile on his face, congratulating him for winning. Though the reward was not as exciting as he thought it would be. Having a dancer outfit is quite… insulting in fact for what he had been through. As he continued to watch the student train, the cerulean woman’s cheerful expression from before now suddenly changed into a worrying one when she looked at him.

“How are you and Annette?” She asked concernedly as Felix slowly turned to look at her with his eyebrow raised at her. Out of all the questions, she could ask him, she picked one that concerned his relationship with Annette. Not that it surprised him since he heard students, staff and knights discussed much, but this was the first that someone asked him about the relationship directly.

“It’s fine between us. Why do you ask?” He answered, lying to her, as he turned to look at the student training again. He and Annette have never been fine after becoming professors to the rebuilt Officer Academy. Arguments, misunderstanding, and avoidance were frequent occurrences between the two during their time at the monastery. Despite being close ally and friends during the academy days and the war, they were strangers after living for many years now. The cerulean woman still looked at him with concern and worry about his relationship with Annette.

“It’s just that... she was worried about you, Felix” She spoke with a worried tone as Felix sharply turned with widened eyes over her statement. Annette, the cheerful girl singing to her delight and causing accident upon accident, worried about him, the lone wolf with a sharp tongue and attitude! Her statement almost tickled him in a way, laughing at the absurdity of her statement about Annette’s worry. He didn’t show it on the outside, but inside he was definitely laughing.

“Worrying about me? Her? She’s just worrying too much” He denied, turning back to the student with a huff as her Majesty felt more and more concerned about him. Annette has always been worried about lots of things. Back in the academy days and war, she was worried about her study, her capability, her friends, her accident, and more. And even now, she continued to worry, not about her past things but her teaching, her students, her position, and now him!

“You must understand, Felix. Annette is really worried about you and your well-being” The woman kept on pressing him, trying to make him care more about Annette and her worry instead of himself. Despite not showing it, Felix was really getting tired of her asking about his relationship with Annette and bothering his train of thought and his peace here. Seeing that there was no point in trying to speak with her, pestering him with her concern about his personal life that he needed to go where he could be all alone and think to himself.

“I have to go now” He spoke up walking towards the entrance of the training grounds as the woman was alarmed by his departure, turning to him as he just about to walk out of the door.

“Go where Felix?” She asked just as he stopped just inches away from stepping outside of training grounds as he turned to look at her once more. The concern was shown clearly on her face as she looked at him as if trying to convince him to tell her the entire truth about their relationship. 

“To clear my mind” He briefly answered before fully leaving the training grounds and going to whatever place he may be that the cerulean woman had no clue where he would go as she stood alone at the training grounds with Isabeau still training.

\------Greenhouse------

The greenhouse, idyllic, serene, and scenic it was with many and varied types of flowers and plants. Plants and flowers grown from many places across Fodlan from Adrestia to Faerghus and Leicester and many more. Thanked the Archbishop’s effort of not just uniting Fodlan but also bridging gaps between the United Kingdom of Fodlan to many inaccessible worlds such as Morfis and Albinea, adding more plants and flowers to the ever-expanding collection of the greenhouse. With the two-year worth of expanding the monastery to accommodate the students and staff, the greenhouse was expanded as well to accommodate the number of plants and flowers imported from other kingdoms.

The place has become an ideal place for students to hang out and study because of its large space and plentiful plant lives to be around. And given how large it was, more staff were put on duty to take care of the plants and flowers and preserve the plant life along with students volunteering in gardening. 

Arriving at the entrance of the greenhouse, the swordsman took a look around the enormous indoor garden to get himself known the structure and the way around the place. He has visited this place many times and got himself lost many times due to how large it was and how puzzling the design was. Aside from that, Felix did find some peace and relaxation being here due to its calm and serene ambient that he never felt before. After taking in the fresh air of the greenhouse, Felix began his walk around the garden to clear his mind of all the thoughts he’s having these couple hours ago.

“Good evening, Mister Fraldarius”

“Evening, Sir Fraldarius”

“How’s it going, teach?”

Greetings from knights, staffs and students he received during his walk as he nodded and waved at them, continuing his walk and looking at the scenery inside the glass building itself. Some students, unlike the ones he was teaching, did not fear him or his supposed reputation as a harsh instructor, rather some would like to become him after hearing many tales of him during the Adrestian’s war on Fodlan. Foolish those were, but at least they were more willing to train with him than others will. Walking down through a walkway lined with rows of hedge arches of different flowers such as orchid, rose, daisy and between those arches, each had their own space with rectangle pots at both sides, with plants and flowers grown on them as well. As he walked through the flower arches walkway, a song, a familiar one, entered his ear causing him to stop on his track and listen to it.

“Today's dinner is steak and then a cake that's yummy yum…” The tune and rhythm that was all so familiar to him, bringing him back to the good old academy days when he was still rash and stubborn in the same place but smaller than it was now. Memory of him catching a certain person singing alone in the greenhouse and then got called for being a villain. Such memories of course... even if he cherished such memories.

“Oh, this mountain of sweets, and treats that I long to eat…” The song continued on as Felix snapped out of its hypnotic trance and kept on walking to the source of the singing. Through the arched walkway, came a central hub of the greenhouse with a large water fountain adorned with many statues, posing on a different parts of the fountain. Surrounding the fountain were benches all around with some potted plants as well. Being the main hub, the fountain area led to many other areas with four main paths, one he came from and the other three. Following the singing voice and glancing around his surroundings, he walked around the fountain and found the source of the singing, one that was obvious to him. Singing to her delight, the orangette Annette was watering the flowers near the west path with her watering can as she danced and twirled without the care of the world. 

“Oh, stacks of steaks and cakes and crumbs and yums-Bah!!!” Upon seeing him as she turned around, she was startled by his presence with a jump and step back as the watering can fly up in the air and landed on the marble ground spilling the water content inside it.

“Felix?! What are you doing here?!” Shouted the angry orangette at the swordsman as he let out a huff at her and walked up to the watering can to pick it up.

“Just walking around until I heard you singing” Handing the watering can to her, Annette angrily snatched it from his hand and huffed at him as well with her pouting face.

“You were watching me singing again, weren’t you?” Asked angrily the orangette mage walking toward the west path as Felix let out a sigh and followed her along.

“Yes. Just like those two times before this” He answered, mentioning past memories of him finding and watching Annette’s singing as she gave him her side-eye and pouted her cheeks. Not that he could see her doing it because she was in front of him, but he could feel her doing it without looking at her face. The two soon became silent to one another as they continued to walk along the western path of the greenhouse to an unknown location. Felix peered around his surroundings as two long rows of hedges along with some trees, bushes and flowers adorned the two sides of the walkway leading to the unknown location. 

Soon the marble lines along the walkway would abruptly end and came an empty space. Still surrounded by trees and bushes, there was a noticeable border between the dirt and the grassy ground with some stacks of tile putting next to where the marble line stopped. Sitting in this empty space was a stone well, as high as their hips with a wooden roof over it supported by two wooden beams. Connecting the two beams was a large wooden cylinder with a coil of rope around it, which connected to a crank outside.

“Why did you come here then?” Said the mage in her emotionless tone as she latched the hook onto the handle of the watering can and slightly let it hover in the air. Felix leaned onto the wall with his arms crossed watching the mage as she went to the crank and pulled it, turning the crank clockwise, lowering the can deep below the well.

“I’m more curious about this place. I haven’t been to this place” He asked avoiding her question and looked around the under-construction space with few tools lying around as Annette sighed through her nose and kept pulling the crank.

“This is where we are supposed to fetch our water from and flower the plants. But due to the complicated water source, this place was put on hold until they figured out the water source” The orangette professor explained before stopping the pull and began pushing the crank, counter-clockwise feeling that the watering can had been filled while Felix still looking the empty space, arms crossing and his eyes wandering around the scenery. The mage continued to push the crank and the swordsman kept looking around, neither meeting their eyes and both avoiding seeing each other. Soon the watering can was brought up as Annette stopped pushing and unlatched it from the hook holding it. She held the can in her hands and intended to leave but instead, she placed the can on the edge of the well and let out a sigh of frustration.

“Why did I persuade you to stay in the first place?” She muttered in frustration, earning his attention as Felix slowly turned to look at her, seeing the angry feature on her face.

"Why did you do it? Convinced me to stay here?" He asked, wondering why she persuaded him to stay here only to make her more frustrated the longer he stayed or caused trouble to himself.

"Why don't you recall the moment yourself? You forgot how I felt back then?!" She sharply turned at him with a scowl look on her as Felix, unfazed by her anger, turned to look at the sky through the glass ceiling above them. The sky was blue as always, but from what he could see the blue color slowly changed into a tint of orange, signaling the upcoming transition from day to night. The orange tint of the sky reminded him of that day, just after the party celebration, where he was supposed to depart from Garreg Mach to the outside world of Fodlan on horse.

_“FELIX!!!”_ A voice called out to him and stopped him just as he was leaving with a horse in hand. It was the orangette Annette that stopped him and pleaded to stay with her at the monastery. He looked back at the orangette as she still glared at him, waiting for his answer.

“You were worried that I was leaving you-” 

“Exactly! And look where all of this took me” The mage intervened and sarcastically said as she picked up the watering can by the handle with her two hands, briefly letting the can drop due to the amount of water in it, and walked slowly back to the path. As she walked, the can swayed from left to right spilling the water along the way. The swordsman glared at her as he watched her slowly walking away from him before eventually stopped and spoke up.

“Arguments, distancing, giving each other’s glare and side-eyes, and worst of all…" As she rambles about how far their relationship has fallen hard from the day onwards, the swordsman gave her his "ignored face" and turned to face her again when she pressed that last part of her statement. He watched as she stopped, mere feet away from him, and quickly spun around to face him pointing her finger at him.

"... You, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, made my life more miserable than ever before" Her harsh statement stabbed him in an attempt to make him feel sorry for her but instead Felix was offended by her words, showing her his scowl face, disagreeing with what she said. 

"Me?! Make your life miserable?! You are the one that made me miserable!" Standing upright now with his arms now uncrossing as he now approached her with him pointing his finger at her as well.

"Getting involved in my life, telling how I should or shouldn't treat the students, and generally being a nuisance in my presence!” He argued back fiercely at her for things she did to him as well during their time here. Not just lecturing him about how he should handle his students but also stepping into his life as well like caring for how he bathed, dressed, behaved, and even ate his food like he was her kids all of a sudden!! All the while, Annette was glaring at him, with her narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, as he walked closer to her, angrily arguing and pointing at her before he closed the gap between the two.

“And you are just a nuisance to my presence and my life!” She shouted at his face still holding onto the watering can with her one hand while the other was clenching tightly as she looked at him, how tall he was over her and how angry he was from hearing her insult.

“You are more of a nuisance than I am!” He shouted at her with his clenched tightly by his side, seeing how annoying it was for her to look at him with her scowl look and with her clenched fist as well, really showed that she was very angry at him.

“Oh, you are!” She argued back showing him more of her angry side than before, than the one at the training grounds a year before, with her eyes lit up at him. Felix was taken aback with this anger of hers, like the one he saw at the training grounds but more intense than the last one, but he stood his ground, glaring at her back with more anger than he could muster. 

“You are!!” He argued back with more anger in his tone at her. This was now an argument between two little kids arguing about who was better, meaner, taller or whatever competition they were having as the two shouted at each other to see who was more of a nuisance to one another. Luckily that the location they were in was deep into the greenhouse so no one could be able to hear their loud yelling, except when they took the west path.

“YOU ARE!!!” With one final shout from the orangette, Felix let out a loud huff at her and turned away from her, crossing his arms as Annette did too, huffing at him and crossing her arms, and turned away from him with the watering can slide down to and whipped around her elbow. Due to how much she moved her body and her arm, the watering can was thrashed around relentlessly during the argument that it lost almost all of its water. Safe for some that managed to stay inside that made the can light enough for it to be easily carried up and around Annette’s arm.

Silence fell between the two as they still turned away from each other, their scowled face fully shown and their arms crossed in anger, refusing to look at one another as they just stood there, like children who were angry at their parents. The silence continued well throughout the time as the sky gradually turned into orange the further the sun dipped into the horizon. Some staff stayed behind to take care of the plants while others, students, staff, and knights alike, left for their quarter as the two continued to stand angrily at each other, letting the time flew by them.

“What am I to you, Felix?” Annette spoke up, feeling frustrated at how Felix viewed her as a person, attracting the swordsman’s attention as he turned slightly to see her. The mage turned back to look right into his sharp auburn eyes with her blue eyes as she waited for him to answer her question while giving some of her own answers.

“A stranger? A beggar? A little speck within the empty head of yours? A spot that you absentmindedly walk over? Or someone didn’t exist in your life?...” Annette gave out her own answers, assumptions that described their current relationship, as Felix turned his head away once more in irritation, avoiding seeing her face while she went on and on with her assumption. Eventually, she stopped, seeing how he refused to respond to her as she asked him one last time to see if he was willing to answer her.

“Tell me, Felix. Who am I to you-” Without warning, Felix suddenly turned and pulled her into a tight hug as the mage felt surprised and shocked from his action that she dropped the watering can onto the ground, spilling the last of its content inside. 

“Someone who I had ignored and forgotten for years” Felix responded with sudden sadness and regret in his voice as Annette tried to process what just happened. Felix was arguing angrily with her about how their relationship was to each other, and now he's confessing about how he really felt about her?!

“I’m sorry, Annette. For how I ignored you and treated you” He apologized and pulled her away from his hug as he looked at her dazed face, with shocked and widened eyes.

“F-Felix?!? B-But… why now?!” She stammered, as a result of her reacting to his hug, and asked bewilderedly as Felix looked deep into her eyes, feeling apologetic and regretting what he had done to the orangette mage.

“Truth be told, I was suppressing my feelings for you” He confessed to her and turned away in shame of his action as Annette widened her eyes more and felt more surprised by his sudden confession.

“S-Suppressing?!” She stammered once more as Felix let go of her and walked a few feet towards the setting sun before stopping to explain to her with his back facing her. Felix has been suppressing the feelings for many years

“Ever since you convinced me to stay at the monastery, I suddenly felt an aching feeling in my chest. Which I assumed to be just a minor chest pain” Felix explained, clutching tightly at the left side of his chest, wrinkling his clothes within his fist as Annette stood bewildered and curious about the aching feeling he had. Ever since he first discovered this aching feeling, he always assumed it came from the scar on his chest or the pain of his beating heart. But eventually, through time and many encounters with the orangette mage, he would soon learn its true nature.

“But I was wrong about this feeling. It wasn’t as painful as many wounds I received and evident as many of my scars. I was waiting to see what this aching feeling was… until I found out what it is” He explained more to her as the mage got more and more curious about this aching feeling as she wondered if he felt the same as her. The mage hovered her free hand over the left side of her chest as she could feel the aching feeling within her as well. Watching him standing with the sun slowly dipped into the horizon with the sunlight retracting itself along the surface it shone on.

“The more I encountered you. The more I argued with you. The more I stared at you. And… the more I heard your voice, your song. That I truly realized that… that…” He confessed and turned around facing her with his unflinching stoicism as he stared at her, gazing at her face. She stared back at him, wondering what he would say next as she clutched the aching spot on her chest tighter and tighter, feeling its intensity. 

“That I, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, the former Shield of Faerghus. Standing here, in front of you, right here and now to declare...” He spoke up, approaching closer and closer to her as she waited with bated breath, waiting to hear him to say those words. For her mind and heart to be free from doubtful and fearful thought, the thought of him leaving her and ignoring her for the rest of her life and for her to rest easy. The swordsman closed the distance between him and the mage, laying his hands onto her shoulders and looking deeply into her eyes as Annette stared at him and gripped onto his wrist tightly waiting for him to say it. Mustering all the courage he had in his body, he would soo confess his feelings for her.

“That I love you... Annette Fantine Dominic” With a tender press against her lips, Felix kissed pulling her in closer to him and hugged her as Annette kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling his tender lips onto hers. This was what Annette was waiting for four years, four whole years, for him to finally admit his feelings toward and to feel reassured about their relationship. As the sun dipped into the horizon, the sunlight retracted slowly closer and soon shone on the kissing couple, illuminating them, as if giving them the attention they needed. The two continued to kiss passionately but would soon break the kiss as the two looked deeply and lovingly into each other’s eyes.

"F-Felix… Y-You… Y-You…" She stammered, tears welling up on her eyes as Felix was startled by the tears on her eyes. Her arms around him were soon retracting back to the inside as she clenched her fists and placed firmly on his chest. Felix was baffled by her strange gesture until Annette let out sobbing and bawling her eyes out in front of him.

"You are a despicable man, Felix! A mean one! A rude one! And a villain at that" She hit his chest repeatedly with both of her fists while crying in joy and relief after hearing his honest confession to her as his confusion softened up to a relief one.

“I-I thought you would abandon me again like last time! And the time after that! And then the time-”

“Okay, I get it! You are happy that I didn’t leave and you wouldn’t be upset over me leaving you” He intervened and grasped her two arms tightly, stopping her from hitting his chest and bringing them closer to her chest. She sniffed and let her tears flow down along her cheeks, still smiling at him as Felix began wiping the tears away with his thumb and stared lovingly at her.

“T-Thank you, Felix. F-For finally caring for me” She spoke up, sniffing and trying to stop the tears as Felix giggled slightly from her words and kissed on her forehead to comfort and relax her. The two stared lovingly at each other, knowing that the two now loved each other and didn’t have to worry about one leaving another one.

“Big girls like you don’t cry like that” He teased her as she chuckled at his joke before playfully pouting her cheeks at him.

“Big girls like me cry too when they get emotional” She argued back playfully as he giggled at her joke and released his grasp, standing upright before her and smiling warmly at her.

“I get it! You can get emotional at time” Teasing once more as he then turned to look at the sunset happening at the far horizon along with Annette, who was also looking at the setting sun as well. With half of the sun on the horizon, the sky was full orange with its color radiated closer to darker blue signifying the transition from day to night.

"I love you too, Felix" She confessed her feelings to him as well, holding onto his hand and resting her head on his shoulder, as Felix tightened his grasp onto her hand. Feeling the warmth and passion within their touch as the two continued to watch the setting sun through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse. Eventually, the sun sunk into the horizon turning the sky fully into the dark blue night with still orange color faded away along with the sun.

“Let’s get back. It’s getting late” Felix offered and looked at her as Annette nodded at him and began their trek out of the greenhouse and into the monastery outside. Along the way, Felix spoke up...

“I will take you out to dinner as a token of apology. And to get you healthy” He offered and encouraged her as well, causing the orangette mage to react with bewilderment at his words.

“H-Healthy?! But am I not healthy enough?!” She argued back as the swordsman also felt a bit surprised at her own choice of words.

“You work all the time. At least gets some food in your stomach” He argued back as Annette became offended by what he insinuated at her health and lifestyle.

“You dare call me skinny, Felix!!” She argued back again and thus they argued and argued along their way out of the greenhouse and to the restaurant. But at least they argued out of love and compassion towards one another as they would enjoy the meal and go back to their home afterward, feeling happy about the moment and the feelings they shared together.

\------Training Grounds, The Next Day------

“Give me ten laps around the training grounds. Now!” Instructed the combat professor as the students began running the large and wide area of the training grounds in ten laps as their professor told them. Running around the wide-open area, twice as long as the classrooms were, the students already felt from running around the area. Few panted heavily from the running from two or three laps while other few managed to run far more laps than others with enthused faces as they ran their laps around the training grounds. Felix stood watching them running around, admiring those who managed to run fat from others as he glared at those fallen behind, stopping and breathing heavily.

"Those who fall behind. Pick up some slack!" He shouted at them as they became startled by his words and began picking up their legs and running again. He watched them running around the training grounds for quite some time, silent and observant, until he heard voices entering his ears.

“Do you think with this diagram, we can summon more powerful magic?”

“If you are qualified enough to do it…”

These voices caught his attention as he turned to see two people by the entrance to the training grounds. One was a tall blond student talking to a short orangette professor as they went to discuss magical stuff between them. Felix's expression softened as he let out a smile, watching her talking to her fellow student. Out of the corner of his eyes, his smile dropped as he turned to see the students smirking, wondering, and looking between him and Annette.

"Give me twenty push-ups if you all don't finish running for twenty minutes!" Strict as ever as the instructor as the students flinched from his yelling and continued on their running if they didn't want to do some rough push-ups. Annette overheard his shouting and turned to look at him, overwatching the students running around the training grounds. 

Felix turned his head around, with his only right eye looking at her while she looked back at him. He cracked a smile at her before looking back at his students as she too let out a warm smile at him and went back to converse with her student. Despite the rough teaching he still applied, he at least lessened his strict teaching to a more acceptable level. Nevertheless, the two still loved and cared for each other from the day Felix confessed his feelings to her. As they minded their own business, they thought to themselves as the same question still plaguing them throughout their life even to this day.

_"What our life could have been without one another?"_

* * *

_The Re-connection Between The Two Lovers in The Garden During The Golden Hour by Stellar_


End file.
